Build or Buy? The Individual and Unit-Level Performance of Internally Versus Externally Selected Managers Over Time

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: DeOrtentiis, Philip S.; Van Iddekinge, Chad H.; Ployhart, Robert E.; Heetderks, Tom D.
• 署名单位: Michigan State University; State University System of Florida; Florida State University; University of South Carolina System; University of South Carolina Columbia
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-9010
• DOI: 10.1037/apl0000312
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: 916-928
• 关键词: internal labor markets; promotions; external hiring; human capital; staffing

摘要

At some point, fining managers in all organizations face the decision of whether to fill open positions with internal candidates (e.g., through promotions) or to hire external candidates (e.g., from competitors or new entrants into the labor market). Despite this ubiquitous choice, surprisingly little research has compared the effectiveness of internal and external selection or has identified situations in which 1 approach may be better than the other. The authors use theory on human capital resources to predict differences between internal and external hires on manager- and unit-level outcomes Analysis of data from a quick-servicc retail organization (N = 3,697) suggested that internally fined managers demonstrated higher levels of individual job performance and commanded lower starting salaries than externally hired managers. At the unit-level, operations led by internal hires demonstrated higher performance on organization-specific criteria (i.e., service performance), whereas no internal-external differences were found on more general criteria (i.e., financial performance). They also found some evidence that differences in unit service performance decreased over time (but did not diminish completely) as external fines improved at a slightly faster late than internal hires. Overall, these findings underscore the complexity of the recurring build or buy decision. The results also suggest that internal hires generally outperform external hires, both individually and collectively, and they do so for less money.